Same Mistake
by ryoka neko
Summary: The FullMetal Alchemist returns from the other side of the Gate. Roy's abmition of Fuhrer is closing in. Alchemic research has broken through the ultimate barrier. Time. has a bit of Roy x Ed, Ed x Winry
1. Fire

Same Mistake

Al: Human transmutation. The ultimate sin that any alchemist can make. Emotions tend to candy coat the idea, making it seem justifiable. But in reality, it leads to a terrifying new perspective.

Chapter 1: Fire

Edward and Alphonse walked out of the Central City State Alchemist HQ, with Al encumbered with boxes of documents taller than him.

"Al! I got you out of that armor so you could at LEAST walk a little faster!" Edward yelled, as he was only carrying two boxes himself.

"Oh, I see that losing all your limbs hasn't changed you one bit! I don't see you carrying anything else but your love-letters to Mustang!" Al teased with an innocently honest voice.

"SHUT UP!" Edward yelled as he turned a deep shade of red.

"Ha-ha! The FullMetal Alchemist has a crush on the Fla-mmpf!" Edward flew into his younger brother, clamping his mouth shut with his steel arms.

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!" Screamed Edward, not caring that many State Alchemists turned their attention to the two brothers sprawled out on the staircase to the main building. He added in a whisper, "dammit, al! nobody knows about us, you weren't supposed to know! Do you know how his running as Fuhrer would plummet if anyone found out?" There was a note of worry and urgency in his voice.

"I know brother…I'm sorry. But…in his office?" Al shuddered as he remembered the day when he walked into the General's office, only to find his own brother sprawled over the Flame Alchemist, both of them intertwined in each others arms and, to Al's horror, tongues.

"Sh-shut up…" He once again turned a deep brick red.

"It was unexpected… He was promoted that day so-" Ed was the one this time to have his mouth clamed shut by his brother.

"I don't wanna know the details!" Al was still not over his big brother the FullMetal Alchemist, having a crush on the Flame Alchemist.

"OWW! Du madels ne bite mly toulnge!" Said Edward muffled as he massaged his jaw.

"Do you want me to make feel better, FullMetal?" said a soft, yet deep voice from behind the two.

"AHH! Er, I mean…hello 2nd General…" Edward looked down at his feet as he greeted him.

"Hello General Mustang. I hope you're well." Al said rather stiffly, and standing up to salute.

"No need for that, Alphonse. I told you, treat me as an equal; I don't want you to have to be so rigid around me." Roy said in an airy tone, as if he was addressing how splendid the weather was.

"Yes sir. Umm…I mean yes…" Alphonse looked away as he said this. He still went stiff whenever the General walked into a room plus his head always filled with an odd buzzing sound whenever he was around him. Al started to pick up the spilled documents that had fallen in their little scuffle.

"Edward, what is all this?" Mustang asked with his deep, caressing voice. "If it's all just paperwork…" Mustang reached into his pocket and slipped on his trademark glove over his hand. "I can just make it all disappear like that." He raised his arm and snapped his fingers, sending a flash of fire into the air, almost like a firework that dazzled the older Elric brother.

"Umm, don't worry about it sir…" Ed said this to his feet. "This is some research about the Gate for Elysia Hughes. Even though she's only 10, she's been interested in alchemy and told us that she wants to take the exam in a week…" Edward looked off into the distance, preoccupied by her choice.

"Don't worry about it, FullMetal. If it's her choice to follow in her father's footsteps and join the State, we have to let he try. And anyways", he added with a smirk, "If she passes, she'll break your record as the youngest State Alchemist to pass the exam." Mustang had some sarcasm in his voice; provoking him was one of his favorite hobbies, and Edward knew it.

"Hahaha. Very funny, SIR. Anyways, I'm heading over to their house right now, she seemed pretty interested, so I'm giving her some of my research and theories about the Gate." Edward was now looking into the Flame's eyes with confidence, hoping that he would drive them there.

"Oh, if you're going, I'll get Havoc to drive you there. He can spare some time." Roy seemed oblivious to Ed's gaze.

"Oh…ok then…I guess I'll see you later then." Edward sighed and went to help his brother pick up their mess, while Mustang called an order for Havoc to drive them over.


	2. Steel

Chapter 2: Steel

"Hey chief, I'm here to drive you over to the Hughes place, right?" Havoc said a few minutes later, and lighting a cigarette.

"Thank you, Havoc. We really appreciate this, right Ed?" Al responded in his usual polite manner.

"…huh? Umm, yea. Thanks a lot, Havoc…" Edward seemed lost in his own thoughts

"_How could he not see that? He should've…"_ Edward pondered this thought as he picked up the last box.

"Eh…" Havoc took a long drag from his cigarette, "No problem. But we gotta hurry; I have a ton of paperwork to do before Flamey will let me go home…and I got a date tonight, so let's go!" Havoc took another drag before getting in the car and put out his cigarette and started the car.

"Oh, alright…let's go, Al." Edward was still preoccupied about the Colonel not meeting his gaze.

As the brothers and Havoc drove along, Edward was silent for most of the ride, until Havoc interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey Metal-head, I was wondering why haven't they changed your code name yet?" Havoc reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a silver lighter.

"Why would they?" Edward asked. "It would actually make more sense, now that all my arms and legs are automail. Jeez…I can still hear Winry bragging about "her best work ever…" She wouldn't let me live this down, no matter what…" Edward said with an odd tone in his voice. That made him think about when he went to Resembool to install automail on his left arm and right leg. He never told anyone what happened then…

"Dammit Winry! Calm down! All I need is my arm and leg done! It's just like last time!" Edward said in an annoyed voice, he didn't ride in a train for 6 hours by himself in a wheelchair just to see her blubber.

"Bu-but your arm…what happened?" Winry was still crying over the fact that her childhood friend returned without a left arm or right leg.

"I'll tell you later. Right now, you have to get started on me before my arm and leg start to completely heal shut." Edward was about to start moving when Winry went around and pushed him in.

"Alright then. Let's get started, I've been coming up with new designs, and I have a prototype that I want to try out!" Her tears were completely forgotten, and the usual gear head was back to normal.

The Rockbell house was a mess, to say the least. Edward was surprised that she was able to navigate his wheelchair through the clutter of tools, bits of metal, and some scrapped automail limbs. He knew that Winry was a pack-rat, but he was still amazed by her life style. A few minutes later, they were in the only clean room, but it was sterilized as well, seeing that the operation was going to be there.

"Alright, Ed. I've been developing this new type of automail for a while. The material is really light, but extremely more durable and stronger than your last one…

They both remembered the disastrous outcome of his lightened version of his arm, and how Ed nearly died because of it.

"Yeah…anyways, your leg is going to be the same material. Its bullet-proof, its heat resistance can last over 12,000 Celsius, and I added a special weapon to the leg. It wouldn't really work on the arm for you, since you use alchemy on it a lot." Winry added, with a sort of crazed look in her eyes.

"What kind of weapon did you put? It better not malfunction or anything!" Edward was all too familiar with her "secret weapons" that she was known to embed in automail limbs.

"Here, I'll show you!" Winry grinned as she showed him his soon to be right leg.

"All you need to know that if you're in a tight pinch just squeeze the sides of your knee!" She squeezed the knee and a little button popped out of the front of the knee

"Hey…what does it do?" Edward looked curiously to the button and was about to press it when Winry whacked him with the thigh side of the leg.

"STUPID ASS! What do you think you're doing! When you press this button, your leg detaches from the knee down, and launches at whatever you're pointing it at! But once you do that, you need to take cover quick, cuz your leg will explode a few seconds after it detaches!" Winry quickly reset the device, giving a sigh of relief.

"Oww! How was I supposed to know that it's a missile! And besides, what makes you think that the explosives won't go off if I'm fighting someone! If I kick 'em hard enough, my leg will explode!" Ed was frantically trying to convince her that a missile for a leg was not that appealing.

"Stupid! Jeeze, give me some credit! The missile is 100 full proof! It won't go off from a few bangs and stuff!" She banged the leg on the floor as Ed yelped and fell out of the surgical bed. "I got the idea from Paninya. Her leg had a missile launcher in it, so I figured that it would be ok to do that with the bottom half of the leg…I mean, seeing that you can make yourself a new one outta scrap metal or something." Winry said as she hoisted Ed back on the bed.

"Alright…fine. Just hurry up, I'm starving…" Edward did not eat today; he knew the pain that he would go through would probably make him sick.

A few hours later, Edward was standing up and walking around the house, flexing his new arm and doing some basic sword alchemy to it.

"Alright! Thanks, Winry. It feels fine and runs real smooth." Ed clapped his hands together, and returned his arm back to its normal state.

"No prob, Ed. Sit down, dinner's ready!" Winry called out from the kitchen and came out with a stew for them.

"Winry this…tastes terrible." Edward said as soon as he took a bite.

"Shut up! I don't normally cook, so take what you can get! And besides, it would taste better if you drank some milk!" Winry turned a shade of pink and threw a carton at milk at FullMetal, and he barely caught it before she threw a glass at him.

"Dammit Winry! You say I have a temper, look at you! Throwing things all over the place and making legs with bombs in them! I'm going to bed; I'll see you in the morning." Ed stormed off up the stairs, slamming the door shut to her guest room.

"Fine…I don't need you. You didn't even want automail in the first place…" Winry mumbled as she picked up the plates.

A while later, FullMetal was sitting in the guest room's balcony, deep in thought. He stared absentmindedly at the stars, unknowingly trying to crack his knuckles.

"Did I make the right choice? Did…did I really have to give up the rest…of me?" Edward lifted his new left arm, and raised it in front of him.

"I better apologize to Winry…I shouldn't have snapped like that…" He stood up, walked to his door and opened it to see her in front of his door.

"Oh, Winry. I was just going to apologize to you…" He started blushing; she was wearing a thin night gown, her lingerie was clearly visible and he tried to stop looking at her body, so he looked into her eyes. He was surprised to see tears in them.

"I-I'm sorry Ed…I should've not yelled at you like that…" She started to sob a little and rushed over to him, and pulled him close to her.

"I didn't mean those things…I'm sorry I was so mean…" Her voice was breaking and her blue eyes were shining with tears now.

"Hey, don't cry…I'm sorry I snapped at you…" He was hugging her, and realized how he couldn't feel her with his arms.

"I-it's just that…I haven't seen you in so long, Ed…I missed you…" Winry looked into his golden eyes, feeling the touch of his cold steel arms around her body.

"I know…I missed you too... I really did. I just wi-" Edward eyes widened as her tongue slid into his mouth, her eyes clamped shut as he continued to feel her sliding in his mouth.

He was in shock for a few seconds, but soon he closed his eyes, started to feel her tongue with his own, feeling her warm body against his chest, her arms around his neck, his around her hips… But the only thing that was going through his mind at that moment was

_Fire or Steel?_


	3. The Faux Smile

Chapter 3: The Faux Smile

"HEY CHIEF!" Havoc pelted his silver lighter right in the middle of Edward's forehead knocking him out of his little space out, and on the floor of the car.

"OWW! WHAT THE HELL!" Edward quickly sat back up and was about to punch Havoc in the face when he saw Elysia outside his window.

"Oh, hi Elysia! How are you?" Edward stepped out of the car and hugged the little girl that was waiting for him at the front of the Hughes manor.

"Hi, Big Brother! I'm fine! Hi, Alphonse!" She waved at Alphonse, who was already unpacking the boxes from the car to the house.

"Hello Elysia! I see that you're doing great!" Alphonse was carrying the boxes over to the house, where Gracia was standing at the door.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Hughes. I hope you're well" He set down the boxes and went back to pick up the last few. Even though he was in a human body, he was still extremely strong and still had a sort of metallic ring in his voice.

"Yes, I'm fine, and you?" Even though she was aging, Gracia Hughes was as beautiful as ever. She bent down and picked up a book that was sticking out of a box and flipped through it.

"Ahhh, Transmutation Circles and their Qualities by Dr. Johann Zennehiem." Edward was carrying another box to the door when he saw the book Gracia pulled out.

"Yes, that is a really good book if you want to know more about circles, Elysia" Edward looked over to Gracia, and thought for a split second that he saw a tear in her eye.

"Mrs. Hughes? Are you all right?" Edward knew that having lost her husband to Envy, she had to get a job. It was lucky that Colonel Mustang gave her one since he was re located to Central, he needed a personal secretary, and he hired the widow of the late Maes Hughes.

"Hmm? I'm fine Edward, thank you for asking. You're such a sweet boy…" Her sweet voice washed over any grief that was still in her.

"_I can't let them see. I can't let them hear. I must be strong" _Her dreams were still ravaged by the loss of her husband, his coffin opening and seeing a green haired man with an strange marking on his left thigh, cackling like mad…

"_Don't think about it. Put on a smile for your husband's and daughter's friend." _She gave him a smile, and lifted a box and put it in her daughter's room.


	4. Humans And Time

Chapter 4: Humans and Time

After the last of the boxes were packed up, Havoc left and Elysia and the two Elric brothers were in a sort of laboratory that used to be the cellar of their home. The brothers were amazed by the assortment of books and technology that was in the cellar of a home.

"Wow, Elysia…are you sure that you need our work when you have all of this?" Edward was very impressed by all the research she had done. He looked down at a table and saw what looked like blue prints to a new design of transmutation circle.

Elysia Hughes was a perfectly normal little girl until her father was killed by the homunculus Envy. After that life turning event, she became infatuated with alchemy, wanting to be the next pioneer of alchemy research. Although she was a little pale because of staying in the laboratory for days sometimes, she was already developing beautifully, with her mother's eyes and her father's smirk. She was tall for a 10-year-old; and she also had rectangular glasses like her father.

"Well of course I do! You two have been as close as possible to the Truth. Or so you've told me…That's why I need you're research, it's vital for what I have planned for the Exam." She was riffling around the box, and pulled out a necklace with the flamel that Ed wore on his jacket, and the tattoo on Alphonse's left arm.

"Oh yeah. I was saving that for you, Elly. It's a powerful symbol that can magnify one's alchemy power." Al looked at the glee that was on her face as she undid the clasp and wrapped it around her neck.

"_She reminds me of myself before…" _Suddenly, he had a horrible flashback of the gruesome sight that met his eyes so long ago…the thing that wasn't even human…the homunculus Sloth…his soul ripped out of his body…and then the blood all over his brother…He shook off these thoughts and continued to look around the lab.

"Thank you Alphonse! I really like it!" Elysia had a big smile on her face as she continued to unpack the boxes.

"Anyways, what is this circle for Elysia? Please don't tell me that it's what I think it is…" Ed lifted up the blue print after further inspection, he realized that it closely resembled the transmutation circle that they tried to use to revive their dead mother, Trishta.

"Umm well…I know it looks like a life circle…but it's what I've been researching for a while now…it's what I'm gonna use for the exam. It's a Time Circle.

Both the brothers turned and looked dumbstruck. A Time Circle? They could figure out by the name what the idea was…but time-travel?

"How does it work?" Edward's eyes were full of excitement and curiosity. Time travel…all the possibilities that could be…

"Well first off, since time isn't solid, the Law of Conservation of Mass is useless, and the Law of Natural Providence can't really hold up to my theory. How can it work without the basic equivalent exchange, you ask? Well, that's why I created this!" Elysia went to the back of the lab and pushed something large on a rolling table covered in a cloth.

"Gentlemen, I give you…"She pulled back the cloth, " The Time Module!"

"The…time module? What the hell is that?" Edward blinked stupidly at the device. To him, it looked like a clock, except the hands were flamels with small transmutation circles attached to them. The face of the clock looked like a 3-D transmutation circle, and the center was a red substance that was all too familiar to the Elric brothers.

"No…no…It can't be…I made sure that it was all destroyed…" Ed looked horrified to see the Philosopher's Stone once again. The images of the Fifth Laboratory…the way Tucker tricked him into helping the homunculi concentrate the Stone…

"Br-brother….get it away from me! Make it go away!" Alphonse was breaking down, memories of being in the suit of armor for so long, Dante sending Envy to kidnap him… when Gluttony was devouring him alive when he was the actual Philosopher's Stone… Al ran out of the laboratory, leaving a very confused Elysia behind.


	5. Transgression into the Territory of God

Chapter 5: Transgression Into the Territory of God

Several hours later, Edward managed to finally calm down Alphonse, and he apologized for his behavior. He was still a little jittery, so he went to bed.

"Elysia. You need to understand that if you're gonna use that thing, you're going to have to disguise it somehow. Even if you are personal friends with me or the Colonel, we won't be able to do much if you're persecuted…Didn't you hear that I banned anymore research on the Philosopher's Stone? It was a public hearing, and it got passed…"

Elysia meanwhile was very confused. "Why the hell do you think this Philosopher's Stone! That is liquid fuel made of several compounds that combust and release a vast amount of energy. I created it in the lab about a year ago!" She was trying to understand why Al and Ed were so afraid of her substance.

"Can you pour it out of the vial? Does it collect in one little area?" Edward was breaking into a nervous sweat. If she said yes to these questions, she might have accidentally created the imperfect form of Philosopher's Stone.

"Are you kidding me! The fuel breaks down as soon as it hits the air! If I tried pouring onto the table, it would never reach it! It would evaporate into the air! And anyways, why do you two fear the Philosopher's Stone? I heard that it was extremely toxic and poisonous to the touch." Elysia was trying to sort it all out, but was getting more and more confused.

Edward chuckled as he leaned back on his chair and mumbled, "So her lies are still around, eh?" "Elysia, I think it's time to explain something to you. But you have to promise me that you will NOT tell another person that I told you this. Don't even tell Mustang. I'll get in a lot of trouble if someone were to find out that I told you this…Do you swear on your life that you will not even to tell your mother?" Edward was not leaning back anymore. He was sitting up and looking the young girl dead in the eyes.

"I-I promise…" Elysia was unsure about what to expect, but she prepared for the worst.

Edward went on to explain about her father's murder, how the ex-Fuhrer was the Homunculus Pride, how her father figured out that the homunculi were running the military, and why he was killed…

As much Elysia was wise and mature for her age, nothing could've prepared her for the truth that Edward was telling her the tears were rolling down her face unknowingly to her…and then…an odd feeling crept through her. And the feeling soon turned into a thought…and insane, crazy thought…but it was still worth a try…It ran through her head…over and over again…

"_Stop it from happening. Stop it from ever happening…"_


End file.
